Krasenkow leads in XLII Rilton Cup with 4.0/4 points

12/31/2012 – The Rilton Cup is Sweden's most famous chess tournament. It is being held in the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm, where in the winter months people seem to be afraid of colds, the flu or perhaps the dreaded norovirus. Many played with medical face masks. Not so the Polish GM Michal Krasenkow, who after four rounds leads the field barefaced with a perfect score. Illustrated report by Alina L'Ami.

The Rilton Cup is Sweden's biggest and most famous international chess tournament.
It was originally initiated by a donation from a doctor, Tore Rilton, and since
1985 the tournament is financially secure. A special challenge prize, donated
by SEB Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, is the Rilton-medal in genuine gold. The
tournament has over the years been very helpful for talented Swedish juniors.
This year the Rilton tournament is part of the 100th
anniversary celebrations of the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics. Every Rilton
participant will receive a copy of the medal that the Olympic medal winners
received in 1912.

The Rilton Cup is being held as a a nine-round FIDE Swiss from December 27,
2012 to January 5, 2013 (Dec. 31 is a free day), at the Clarion Hotel Stockholm,
Ringvägen 98, Stockholm. The event is open for players with a FIDE or national
rating of at least 2200, with exemptions granted to players who applied before
November 15th, and priority given to juniors. Time controls as 40 moves in 90
minutes, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment
of 30 seconds per move from move one. Prizes range from 20,000 SEK for first
to 3,000 SEK for tenth (one SEK is 12 Euro cents, or 15 US cents). There are
also prizes of 1,000-3,000 SEK for the different rating groups.

The city consists of fourteen islands that are part of the Stockholm archipelago

The narrow streets of the old city are covered in snow

You can occasionally spot a Swedish gnome or Tomte protecting the houses

The Tomte is a small creature living in and around houses and sheds on Swedish
farms. If you are wise you will show him "due respect", and he will
protect the household from accidents and disasters. But he will play tricks
on you if you annoy him, so watch out!

The playing hall in the Clarion Hotel Stockholm

Unusual at chess tournaments: players with medical face masks

Fear of common cold, flu or the dreaded norovirus? Russian GM Evgeny Gleizerov

Fearless: Polish GM Michal Krasenkow, who leads after four rounds with
4.0/4 points

In second place with 3.5/4 points: Russian GM Aleksandr Shimanov (right) playing...

See also

9/26/2017 – The final classical game. The finals has been relatively sedate with three draws until now. But it could all end today with one decisive game. Ding Liren has the black pieces today. It's going to be an exciting game. Games kick off at 13:00 CEST (7:00 AM EST) with live commentary from Tbilisi by GMs Evgeny Miroshnichenko and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and live updates by our reporters Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

See also

7/5/2017 – This is neither prank nor clever wording: Garry Kasparov will be playing in the official St. Louis leg of the Grand Chess Tour from August 14-19, 2017. Please note that this is the Rapid and Blitz competition, just as the ones held in Paris and Levuen these last weeks, and not the classical events. However, this is not an exhibition event, and will determine the official Grand Chess Tour rankings as well as FIDE ratings of the players. Here is the press release.

Video

Tired of spending hours and hours on the boring theory of your favourite opening? Then here is your solution, play an Anti-Sicilian with 3.Bb5 against 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, and 3.d3 against 2...e6. In 60 minutes you will get a crash course in how to avoid mainstream theory and in understanding the ideas of this Anti-Sicilian setup. After these 60 minutes you should be able to survive the Sicilian for a long time, without being bothered by new developments found by engine x supported by an x-core machine. Now that it finally comes down to understanding, let's play chess!